Archives for September 09

A construction company has an immediate opportunity and is looking for teaming partners with healthcare design/construction experience to respond to the bid!

A veteran design/builder that provides healthcare preconstruction/construction services throughout the western U.S. Their experience includes ground up construction of hospital facilities, major multi-story additions, MOB's, Surgical Suites, Diagnostic Imaging, ER's, OR's, ICU's, Patient Wings, Parking Structures, and complex T/I's; and is looking for small businesses to team with. They are currently working on an RFP and need subcontractor support.

Like it or not, contractors are an integral part of government operations. The pendulum might be swinging against their use, but they will always play an important role in how the government gets things done.

The following 10 companies are at the leading edge of technology and business trends, and their impact will resonate throughout the government market and beyond.

1. Vangent and Booz Allen Hamilton
An initial public offering might seem like a remote possibility in today’s market, but that’s the direction Vangent is headed.

Owned by Veritas Capital, Vangent already acts like a public company — it’s been issuing quarterly revenue and earnings reports. What better way to pique the interests of potential investors and analysts ahead of your IPO than to dangle financial insights?

Another company to watch in this category is Booz Allen Hamilton, which is owned by the Carlyle Group. An IPO is likely the only way the company can satisfy Carlyle’s expectations and hang onto its unique corporate culture.

2. General Dynamics
Any company that’s about to lose its chairman and chief executive officer to retirement must prepare for big changes.

Nicholas Chabraja has led General Dynamics on an amazing journey of growth, which has included building an information technology business from scratch through a series of blockbuster acquisitions. Chabraja turned over the CEO title to Jay Johnson July 1, and by May 2010, Chabraja will step down as chairman, too.

3. Science Applications International Corp.

A similar process is under way at Science Applications International Corp., where Walter Havenstein will become CEO on Sept. 21 as Ken Dahlberg begins his move out of the executive suite. By SAIC’s annual meeting in June 2010, Dahlberg will resign as chairman.

Both companies bear watching to see where the new leaders will take them.

4. Lockheed Martin
Its position at the top of the government IT contracting world puts all eyes on this company. Despite its size — nearly $15 billion in government IT contracts in 2008 — Lockheed Martin continues to find itself near the front of innovative government trends. A recent example is how leaders have positioned the company for the smart-power initiative that the Obama administration is advocating. The idea is to stabilize countries to avoid situations in which military operations seem unavoidable.

When Lockheed Martin acquired PAE in 2007, it expanded its expertise beyond that of a Defense Department supplier by adding mission readiness, global infrastructure support, peacekeeping and disaster response to its repertoire.

5. Cobham
Cobham is the latest British entrant into the U.S. market, and it has made a series of acquisitions to build a business with more than $1.5 billion in U.S. revenue.
With the acquisition of Sparta, Cobham grabbed significant prime-contracting work in the intelligence and missile defense market. The acquisition was part of the company’s strategy to move up the government contracting food chain.

6. Deloitte and Touche
The accounting and consulting firm made two bold moves this year. First, it hired former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) as a director in its federal business unit. Then it acquired BearingPoint in that firm’s fire sale. The $350 million acquisition more than doubled Deloitte’s federal business.
The two major investments sent a clear signal that the company wants to be a major player in the government market.

7. Acquisition Solutions
As pressure grows to address organizational conflicts of interest in the government market, large companies will be forced to get out of the acquisition support business. Thanks to a 2008 investment by private equity group Excellere Partners, Acquisition Solutions is well positioned to acquire business units that larger prime contractors might need to jettison.

Look for increased merger and acquisition activity in this area by Acquisition Solutions and other like-minded companies.

8. Pragmatics
This former 8(a) small business proves that it is possible to be a long-term success after graduating from the set-aside program. Part of the credit goes to founder Long Nguyen’s ability to recruit a management team that has experience building billion-dollar businesses. Of Pragmatics’ 12 senior executives, four are alumni of SRA International, and three come from Titan.

9.TASC The big question raised by Northrop Grumman’s plan to sell off its TASC unit is who the buyer will be: another large private equity group or an existing company. But with the deal having the potential to reach $2 billion, it’s also worth asking what Northrop Grumman will do with all that cash and whether the TASC sale will prompt other large defense contractors to divest themselves of valuable businesses.

10. EDS and HP
The combined companies are entering the second year of their merger, so the evidence of an integrated operation should move from the marketing materials to the field. And with the follow-on contract to the Navy Marine Corps Intranet looming, the stakes are high for incumbent EDS and its parent company. Read Full Article p://tr.im/yEzp

Over $3.5B total awards were made. UNITED STATES TRANSPORTATION COMMAND (USTRANSCOM) awarded the FY10 contractor teams to provide airlift support for the Civil Reserve Airlift Program (CRAF). The teams are awarded business based on the Mobilization Value Points (MVP) of the aircraft committed to Stages I, II, and III of the CRAF program. In order to participate in the CRAF program, carriers must hold an FAA Part 121 certificate and undergo an audit conducted by the DoD Air Carrier Survey and Analysis Office and approved by the Commercial Airlift Review Board. Participants can either team with the current primes as a "point seller" meaning they will get credit for their MVP points and CRAF committments, or they can be be a designated "operator" for their category of business. The following teams and independant operators received awards:

Alliance Contractor Team of Leesburg, Va., is being awarded an estimated $1,580,619,789 firm fixed-price contract for international airlift services with a minimum guarantee of $327,824,214. Team members include: American Airlines, Inc. of Ft. Worth, Texas, Arrow Air, Inc., of Miami, Fla., ASTAR Air Cargo, Inc., of Florence, Ky., Delta Air Lines, Inc. of Atlanta, Ga., Evergreen International Airlines, Inc., of McMinnville, Ore., North American Airlines, Inc., of Jamaica, N.Y., Northwest Airlines, Inc., of St. Paul, Minn., United Airlines, Inc. of Elk Grove Village, Ill., US Airways, Inc., of Phoenix, Ariz., and World Airways, Inc., of Peachtree City, Ga. Work will be performed at worldwide locations, and is expected to be completed September 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Electronic proposals were solicited and 30 proposals received. The contracting activity is USTRANSCOM, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. (HTC711-09-D-5004).

Federal Express Charter Programs Team Arrangement of Memphis, Tenn., is being awarded an estimated $1,510,516,838 firm fixed-price contract for international airlift services with a minimum guarantee of $222,565,273. Team members include: Air Transport International LLC of Little Rock, Ark., Atlas Air, Inc. of Purchase, N.Y., Continental Airlines, Inc., of Houston, Texas, Federal Express Corporation of Memphis, Tenn., Omni Air International, Inc. of Tulsa, Okla., and Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc., of Purchase, N.Y. Work will be performed at worldwide locations, and is expected to be completed September 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Electronic proposals were solicited and 30 proposals received. The contracting activity is USTRANSCOM, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. (HTC711-09-D-5005).

Lynden Air Cargo LLC of Anchorage, Alaska, is being awarded an estimated $51,739,903 firm fixed-price contract for international airlift services with a minimum guarantee of $3,700. Work will be performed at worldwide locations, and is expected to be completed September 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Electronic proposals were solicited and 30 proposals received. The contracting activity is USTRANSCOM, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. (HTC711-09-D-5009).

Miami Air International, Inc. of Miami, Fla., is being awarded an estimated $38,232,127 firm fixed-price contract for International Airlift Services with a minimum guarantee of $1,003,700. Work will be performed at worldwide locations, and is expected to be completed September 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Electronic proposals were solicited and 30 proposals received. The contracting activity is USTRANSCOM, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., (HTC711-09-D-5010).

The UPS Contractor Team of Louisville, Ky., is being awarded an estimated $331,662,972.56 firm fixed-price contract for International Airlift Services with a minimum guarantee of $74,394,266.69. Team members include: ABX Air, Inc., of Wilmington, Ohio, Alaska Airlines, Inc., of Seattle, Wash., Kalitta Air LLC of Ypsilanti Mich., National Air Cargo Group, Inc, dba National Airlines, of Ypsilanti, Mich., Northern Air Cargo of Anchorage, Alaska, Ryan International Airlines, Inc., of Rockford Ill., Southern Air, Inc. of Norwalk, Conn., and United Parcel Service Company of Louisville, Ky. Work will be performed at worldwide locations, and is expected to be completed September 2010. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Electronic proposals were solicited and 30 proposals received. The contracting activity is USTRANSCOM, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. (HTC711-09-D-5006).

What is CRAF and how do you become a CRAF carrier? GovPartners personnel has over 9 years of experience leading, managing and/or sourcing teaming partners for the largest CRAF team. Please contact us today to find out how we can help you become a CRAF carrier.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) submitted its annual "Report
to the Congress" on the "Status of Telework in the Federal Government" on
September 16. In February 2009, seventy-eight Executive Branch agencies submitted data on their
telework programs to the Office of Personnel Management. These data represent
telework participation and related activities between January 1 and December 31, 2008.
Agencies have been submitting these reports to OPM since 2001, tracking the progress
of telework implementation as the agencies have created and refined their programs
and policies. Trends have remained relatively stable over time, with incremental
increases and occasional decreases showing overall slow but steady growth.

For 2008, agencies reported that:
• 102,900 employees were teleworking
• 64% of these employees were teleworking relatively frequently (either 1-2
days a week, or 3 or more days per week)
• Almost half of the agencies had not fully integrated telework into their
Continuity of Operations (COOP) planning
• Office coverage and management resistance were considered the largest
barriers to implementation

Data are reported for each of the agencies, and the large Cabinet-level agencies also
report data at the sub-agency level. A closer look at the agency and sub-agency data
allows us to break down the overall numbers to identify organizations that have
experienced relatively large increases or decreases, either in actual participation or
possibly in their capabilities to effectively track participation.

OPM continues to use these results and other information to support agency staff with
their telework programs by convening regular meetings of telework coordinators,
meeting one-on-one to provide consultation and support, maintaining the
comprehensive www.telework.gov website, and connecting agency staff so they can
learn from each other’s challenges and successes.
The Big Picture: Telework in 2008
• 78 agencies reported a total of 102,900 out of 1,962,975 employees teleworking
- 5.24% of the total population reported as teleworkers
- 8.64% of the eligible population reported as teleworkers
• 48 agencies (61%) reported an increase in their overall telework numbers
• 78% of agencies provide formal notice of eligibility to their employees
• 35% track the number of telework requests that are denied; 33 cases were due
to performance or conduct issues, 160 were due to type of work
• 38% track the number of agreements that are terminated; 108 of these
terminations were based on the employee’s decision, 31 were based on the
supervisor’s decision due to a performance/conduct issue, and 78 were based on
a supervisor’s decision due to a change in work assignments
• 23% of agencies use electronic tracking to count teleworkers, 83% use telework
agreements, 53% use time and attendance (NOTE: agencies may select more
than one category due to difference in tracking mechanisms at the sub-agency
level, so the total exceeds 100%)
• 44 agencies have fully integrated telework into COOP (56.41%)
• 27 agencies reported cost savings/benefits as a result of telework; of these, the
greatest benefit was to morale (24 agencies), then productivity/performance and
transportation (22 each), then human capital (21) (note: agencies could select all
that apply). See tr.im/zwQ7

Register for the Telework Exchange Town Hall Meeting in Washington, DC, on
September 24, at http://www.teleworkexchange.com/townhallmeeting/ to hear
John Berry, OPM Director, deliver keynote remarks along with Aneesh
Chopra, Assistant to the President and Chief Technology Officer.
Government employees may attend this program at no cost. But, private
sector employees are also welcome to attend. The U.S. General Services
Administration is a sponsor of this telework education program.